The sixth season of “Highlander: The Series” is a highly mixed bag.
Only 13 episodes long, it contains an unfortunate ratio of average (and
even sub-average) material to good stuff. On the other hand, the good
stuff here is very good indeed – some of it is in fact great. Factor in
the multitude of episode-specific supplements in this eight-disc boxed
set and you’ve got an unavoidable purchase for any fan of the show or
even anyone who wants some resonant and original moments of TV.

Season Five ended with 400-year-old Immortal hero Duncan MacLeod
(Adrian Paul) overwhelmed with grief after having been tricked into
murdering his young but likewise Immortal pupil Richie (Stan Kirsch) by
the demon Ahriman. Season Six’s Disc One begins with “Avatar,” in which
MacLeod returns to Paris after having spent a year in a monastery,
still torn up but now at least ready to confront Ahriman. Joe Dawson
(Jim Byrnes), MacLeod’s mortal Watcher (the Watchers are mortals who
observe and record the doings of Immortals, but aren’t supposed to
interfere), agrees to help, even though he has trouble believing in the
mythology of a demon who turns up every 1,000 years to challenge a
champion for the balance of good and evil on Earth. Frankly, Joe isn’t
the only one – introducing a supernatural element beyond Immortality
into the series is neither entirely new nor inherently out of place,
but this particular storyline is so grandiose that it you wonder how
the rest of the season will bear up under its weight (you’d also think
somebody who’s seen all that Joe has seen would be more open to strange
possibilities). Partly due to the limited availability of series star
Paul in this last year, the episode largely centers around the guest
character of a college student (Odile Cohen), who is offered her life
back by Ahriman if she will lure MacLeod to his death. Chapter 1 has a
nice kata (martial arts workout) from MacLeod and Chapter 2 has a nice
acoustic blues riff from real-life musician Byrnes. Chapter 6 has good
underwater shots and makes excellent use of guest actor Peter Hudson as
Ahriman, who’s impersonating MacLeod’s dead foe, the fanatically
anti-Immortal Horton. In supplemental materials, there are interviews
with executive script consultant/writer David Tynan, who observes that
the rules had changed and Season Six composer/music editor Hal Beckett,
who throughout this DVD set provides a lot of intriguing observations
on low-budget scoring for TV. There is additional footage of the kata
sequence and an extended scene of MacLeod and Dawson’s reunion.

The Ahriman arc concludes in “Armageddon,” with MacLeod finally
confronting his enemy without resorting to violence – again, we wonder
how the series can continue if Mac becomes a total pacifist. The
answer, as we’ll see later on, is that Mac doesn’t become a total
pacifist – he becomes a little slower to draw his sword, but he’ll
still do it if sufficiently provoked. Here he squares off against
Ahriman, who takes on the form not only of Horton but ancient Immortal
Kronos (superb swordsman Valentine Pelka). While it’s nice to see Paul
playing off Hudson and Pelka, the whole champion business feels a bit
rushed. What is outstanding here, though, is a sequence that is just
about unforgettable: Ahriman in Horton’s guise tempts Joe by offering
the double amputee his legs back. Byrnes, a real-life double amputee,
talks in the interview segments about agreeing to do the scene, which
has emotional power that elevates the rest of the episode.

Episode director Richard Martin provides audio commentary – there’s
also a video commentary option, showing Martin watching the episode
while he talks. The sound comes back up to full volume whenever Martin
falls silent. There are some beautiful colors in Chapter 3, when a
somewhat disoriented MacLeod wanders through a small fair in a park.
Interviews include Byrnes, Paul and Beckett. Supplemental footage
includes extended scenes, an amusing outtake, slow-motion footage –
narrated by associate creative consultant Donna Lettow – of the fight
between Paul and Pelka and a demonstration of how the special effect of
Joe getting his legs back was achieved.

As the writers and producers repeatedly explain throughout the
interview segments, many episodes (five out of the total 13 hours)
served as “audition pieces” for spin-off series “Highlander: The
Raven,” with guest actresses starring as female Immortals, while
MacLeod receded to the background (in two episodes, he’s absent
altogether). As might be expected, these were generally less than
stellar, though they are mildly diverting. In “Sins of the Father,”
Dara Tomanovich plays Alex Raven, who enlists Mac’s help in trying to
avenge Nazi war crimes. In interview segments, star Paul acknowledges
the disjointedness of the final season and writer James Thorpe
discusses the seasonal arc. Supplemental material includes Tomanovich’s
audition, which (like most of the other auditions) features “Babylon
Five” actor Robin Atkin Downes as her scene partner, and a segment on
color timing.

Disc Two starts with one of Season Six’s better episodes, “Diplomatic
Immunity,” featuring Jasper Britton as an Immortal con man who loses
his longtime mortal love when a scam goes wrong and swears vengeance on
the killer. MacLeod winds up in one of his famous moral dilemmas,
further hampered by his desire to remain nonviolent. Britton fits right
into the whole “Highlander” universe and “Angel’s” Alexis Denisof does
a swell job as a privileged young drug addict. Director Martin provides
audio and video commentary, noting that guest actress Anita Dobson is
married in real life to Queen guitarist Brian May (Queen of course
provides the music for the title sequence song, “Princes of the
Universe”). Chapter 7 has a good swordfight. Interviews include writer
Thorpe and actor Paul. Supplemental footage shows how a stunt involving
a car hitting a pedestrian was achieved.

“Patient Number 7” is another of the “audition” pieces, with Alice
Evans as an Immortal amnesiac, who turns out to be a bodyguard. There
are fun flashbacks to Musketeers-era France. Interviews include
executive creative consultant (and showrunner) David Abramowitz being
fairly candid about the limitations of the “audition episode” format
and composer Beckett.

“Black Tower” has a good swordfight in Chapter 7, but the premise – an
Immortal businessman tricks a geeky videogame designer into mapping out
a lethal trap for MacLeod – is so rote and so resolutely disconnected
from the seasonal arc (Richie? Ahriman? Time out in a monastery?) that
it’s dramatically very unsatisfying, though it does have some nice
action. There is a bit of flickering in some scenes, probably due to
the unusual amount of Venetian blinds in the sets. Chapter 7 features a
good sword fight and a somewhat witty Quickening. Interviews have
episode director Martin pointing out that shooting in “one location”
isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Disc 3 starts with “Unusual Suspects,” an episode that plays out
entirely in 1929 flashback, as MacLeod and pal Hugh Fitzcairn (The
Who’s Roger Daltrey) go through some comedic Agatha Christie moves as
they try to puzzle out who has “murdered” Immortal Fitz. Who fans will
get to see Daltrey playing the clarinet in Chapter 1 (though it’s a
session musician we hear on the track). In the interview segment, Paul
says this is his favorite episode of Season Six, due to getting to work
with Daltrey. Director Dennis Berry makes some good observations about
how he designs his shots and Beckett provides more insights about the
scoring process.

“Justice” is another spinoff audition episode, this one featuring the
Immortal Katya determined to avenge the killing of her grown adopted
daughter, with MacLeod soberly trying to dissuade her. Chapter 1 has
some very good foley on a fencing sequence. In the interview segment,
Lettow observes that MacLeod participates in this episode more than he
does in most of the other audition segments. Director Martin supplies
audio and video commentary. Supplemental footage includes guest star
Justina Vail’s audition.

“Deadly Exposure” introduces yet another female Immortal – bounty
hunter Reagan Cole (Sandra Hess) – who will even pose as a stripper to
bag her quarry. In the interviews, executive producer Bill Panzer
allows that star Paul’s relative absence was felt more than
anticipated. There are nice bright colors in the Miami-set opening
(actually shot in Paris). The same interview footage of writer Thorpe
used here appears in the “Sins of the Father” supplement. Supplemental
footage includes Hess’s audition.

Disc Four begins with “Two of Hearts,” the one episode in all of
“Highlander” that features no regular characters at all, which is
somewhat jarring. However, Claudia Christian is by far the best actress
among the guest female Immortals, starring as Katherine, a onetime
healer who is now in the business of stopping bad guys, alongside her
mortal lover/partner, police officer Nick (Steven O’Shea). Interview
footage includes executive producer Panzer and writer Thorpe;
supplemental footage includes Christian’s surprisingly good audition.

“Indiscretions” all by itself is a compelling argument for purchasing
this boxed set. Duncan MacLeod doesn’t appear in this episode, either –
instead, it’s Joe and world’s oldest Immortal Methos (Peter Wingfield),
who together have a hilarious cranky rapport. Byrnes and Wingfield as a
team are an absolute hoot, as is some of their improvised dialogue as
their characters goad each other. The two actors provide audio and
video commentary, discussing locations and character arcs and teasing
each other. There are beautiful definitions in the pinks and whites of
the Quickening in Chapter 8. The actors – and writer Lettow, in the
supplements section – note that Methos’ Quickening in this episode was
actually the very last thing shot for “Highlander: The Series” (the
last two episodes to air, starring Paul’s MacLeod, had been filmed
earlier). The episode features interviews with Byrnes and Wingfield and
supplemental footage with very funny outtakes and alternate takes,
swordfighting footage and Wingfield getting burned but gamely carrying
on during that final Quickening, when the practical effects department
threw every remaining pyrotechnic into the explosions, since they would
not be needed later on.

Disc Five contains “Highlander’s” last double episode, “To Be” and “Not
To Be.” Although the narrative between the two is continuous, the
episodes are shown in their original separate forms. MacLeod is
enjoying a sexually tumultuous reunion with his on-again, off-again
Immortal girlfriend Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen), which is cut short when
both she and Joe are kidnapped by Immortal Liam O’Rourke (Martin
McDougall), who bears a grudge against the Highlander. Unwilling to be
the cause of his friends’ deaths – and feeling the weight of everything
that has happened to him over 400 years – MacLeod agrees to give
himself up to O’Rourke for execution, despite the protests of Methos.
Events don’t go quite as anybody planned and MacLeod, between lives
(he’s been shot but not beheaded), is suddenly visited by the
years-really-dead Fitz, who claims to be an angel. Fitz takes MacLeod
on a tour of the world as it would have been without Duncan in it.
MacLeod can interact with others, but no one has any memory of him. In
this alternate reality/dream, Amanda has gone from being a thief to a
murderess, while Horton has survived and turned the Watchers
organization into a pack of Immortal-killing fanatics. Joe is a
wretched alcoholic; Kronos has lived and totally co-opted his old
associate Methos; Richie is a criminal and MacLeod’s beloved mortal
girlfriend Tessa (Alexandra Vandernoot, a series regular in Season One
and part of Season Two) is still alive but in an existence that is
somewhat empty.

There is actually a throughline tying everything (with the arguable
exception of Tessa) together in the alternate bleak reality, which is
pretty inventive. As just about everyone is quick to point out in the
interview segments, it’s lifted from “It’s a Wonderful Life” – hardly
the first time that film has been used for inspiration, but the twists
here speak strongly to the themes of the series, as well as giving most
of the regular and semi-regular cast a chance to play their characters
somewhat differently. In Chapter 8 of “Not To Be,” there’s a really
artful blend of the sounds of the Quickening explosions with an
ethereal rendition of “Amazing Grace.” The music gracefully segues into
Laura Creamer’s cover of “Bonny Portmore,” combining MacLeod talking
with his friends with a montage culled from scenes from the whole run
of the show. It is a remarkably beautiful and emotional conclusion to
the series, reminding us of how brilliant and gorgeous it is at its
best.

Interviews on “Not To Be” include Kirsch, Abramowitz – who candidly
says he wishes the last two episodes were better than they are – line
producer Ken Gord, director Dennis Berry, Byrnes, Tynan and Paul.
Supplemental footage includes deleted scenes (with audible but somewhat
buzzy sound) and a sweet, alternate version of the last scene.

The disc also includes a featurette on swordfighting and legendary
swordmaster Bob Anderson, who choreographed the fights on the first
feature film and the first two seasons of the series (the editors
rather unaccountably begin the featurette with a fight between MacLeod
and Methos, which was choreographed by Seasons Three-Six swordmaster F.
Braun McAsh). The featurette includes a joint interview with series
lead Paul and film lead Christopher Lambert (apparently done during the
time of the fourth “Highlander” feature, “Endgame,” which starred both
actors) and Anderson himself.

Disc Six contains a 25-minute making-of featurette on the finale – of
“Highlander’s” third season. While this is an odd bonus on the sixth
season discs, it is certainly entertaining, with lots of good footage
of sequences filmed atop the Eiffel Tower and good on-camera comments
from Paul.

The “Immortal Memories” featurette intercuts footage from all six years
of the series with Beckett, Gord, Abramowitz, Tynan, production
designer Stephen Geaghan, Paul, Lettow, Kirsch, Thorpe and Gracen all
citing favorite moments and scenes.

“400 Years of Duncan MacLeod” is a half-hour series of clips,
illustrating significant onscreen events in MacLeod’s life laid out for
us in chronological order.

There’s also “La Carrera Panamerica,” a 50-minute documentary about
actor Paul participating in a grueling cross-country car race in
Mexico. Surprisingly for a featurette, this has honest to goodness
directional sound, with cars driving from right speakers to left and
back again through the sound system. Paul narrates this segment, which
has some intriguing archival footage shot in the ‘50s and will be of
interest to auto racing fans and Paul fans alike.

The eighth disc contains DVD-ROM features. All episodes come with “The
Watchers Chronicles,” profiles of all relevant characters written up by
Lettow (using first-person as a variety of Watchers who are ostensibly
making their reports), with write-ups on swords by Anthony de Longis
and Troy Rudolph.

For audiophiles interested in production, the comments throughout the
DVDs by composer/music editor Beckett should be of particular note –
this is possibly the only TV DVD to include such extensive commentary
on scoring choices.

This aside, everyone involved acknowledges this is not “Highlander’s”
finest season, but it nevertheless contains some of the show’s finest
moments – as well as a loving measure of material on how it was all put
together. Buy it, savor the best and skim the rest.